We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caroline Amond. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caroline below.

Caroline, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always had an interest in making art, I started keeping a sketchbook around ten years old. One of my art teachers in high school introduced me to Frida Kahlo’s work. I instantly understood her work and connected with it in a different way from other artists I knew. I remember coming home from school that day and asking my father if he could buy me a book about her.

For my 18th birthday, I asked my parents if they could take me to a Frida Kahlo exhibition that was happening at the New York Botanical Garden. The exhibition had a heavy emphasis on Kahlo’s engagement with nature through horticultural displays, but they also had over a dozen of her paintings on view. Needless to say, I had such a strong reaction to those paintings to the point where I couldn’t even form a sentence upon leaving the room.

I remember walking back to the car and deciding that I was going to be an artist for the rest of my life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hey! I’m Caroline Amond, an emerging visual artist based in Brooklyn, NY. I create bold, symbol-rich paintings that challenge conventional beauty standards and invite viewers to unravel layered narratives rooted in allegory, the female gaze, advertisements and the complexities of post-internet culture.

I received my BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University and recently completed my MFA in Art at CUNY Brooklyn College. My work has been exhibited in a variety of New York spaces including Powerhouse Arts and the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery. In 2024, I was honored to have my work featured on Artnet’s “Best Work of 2024: 11 Standouts We Saw Globally.”

What sets my practice apart is my deep interest in visual storytelling using iconography and layered imagery to explore femininity, identity, and digital-age mythology. My work opens space for interpretation and reflection, especially for women and those navigating image-saturated culture.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The viewers make being an artist rewarding! It’s touching to see people consider, engage with and spend time with my work. I’ve also had some very robust conversations with viewers that have informed other paintings I’ve made. I don’t make my paintings for self-serving purposes, although I do have an unrelenting compulsion to paint. I’m more interested in my work existing outside of me. The viewers are the ones that actually “activate” the work.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is to not be so rigid in my art practice. When I say this, there is a difference between having structure in your practice and being rigid. Having structured studio time and being consistent is essential, because it actively creates the conditions for inspiration to arrive, evolve and take form. I don’t believe structure limits you, but supports you. But being rigid in your approach as to how to make your work is not good because your art practice needs room to breathe, shift and respond. When we cling too tightly, we risk making important discoveries and fail to anticipate the needs of our work.

When I started graduate school, I found it hard to make big leaps in my work. I had certain rules for myself as to how to approach a painting and I wouldn’t deviate from them. I eventually grew apathetic towards my work and people could see that in my paintings. One of my professors suggested I go to the hardware store and buy the most obnoxious color I could find. I was already feeling lost and figured it couldn’t hurt. Doing this forever my approach. It made me much more willing to take chances and taught me a lesson on how to make the best decisions for the work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carolineamond.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/caroline_amond

Image Credits

Images 1-3: Credit- Matt Bruinooge
Images 4-5: Credit- Etienne Frossard
Image 6: Credit- Julia Hembree Smith
Image 7: Credit- Matt Bruinooge
Image 8: Credit- Julia Hembree Smith